Orlando Magic swingman Arron Afflalo called his fight with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Nemanja Bjelica on Tuesday night an “unfortunate incident.”

Afflalo and Bjelica exchanged words after Bjelica challenged a layup attempt by Afflalo early in the second quarter of the Magic’s victory over the Timberwolves. Referees assessed a technical foul to both players.

Four minutes later, with the Timberwolves on offense, Bjelica cut into the lane and collided head-on with Afflalo.

Afflalo threw a right-handed haymaker that appeared to graze the left side of Bjelica’s head. Bjelica put Afflalo into a headlock, and coaches and security personnel from both teams rushed onto the court to stop the fracas.

Referees gave both players their second technical fouls of the game, triggering their automatic ejections.

“It’s an unfortunate incident, just competitive nature, an isolated incident,” Afflalo said Wednesday. “I’m very proud of my teammates. They stayed composed. Through all of that, they put up a great fight. Regardless of the energy that was sparked from that, us getting a win last night and showing some fight figuratively — for me literally but for them figuratively — was a great thing.”

Afflalo said the verbal exchange that prompted the first technical for each player “happens all the time in the NBA.”

“It was nothing personal,” Afflalo added. “I don’t know him. But that happens all the time. It’s just unfortunate that it escalated to where it ended between us. I’ll try to handle it a little bit better next time.”

The NBA did not announce any disciplinary action for Afflalo or Bejlica on Wednesday.

Speights’ help

Veteran center Marreese Speights missed the Magic’s win Tuesday because of a personal matter, but that didn’t keep him from having an impact on the court. Rookie Khem Birch tallied his first-career double-double — 12 points and 10 rebounds — during a career-high 18 minutes as Orlando beat Minnesota 108-102.

Birch’s success came partly because of last-minute support from Speights, who provided scouting reports on all the Timberwolves’ big men after the 10-year vet determined he wouldn’t play.

“I didn’t know that happened. That’s awesome,” Vogel said after practice Wednesday. “And that’s Mo. You know, Mo’s about all the right things, man. He does little things like that on a daily basis.”

For Birch, it’s now about playing at a level that forces Vogel to keep him in the game. In the G-League, Birch has averaged 13.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in 20 games for the Lakeland Magic.

But, until the win over Minnesota, he hadn’t found his touch in an NBA game. Before Tuesday, Birch had played in seven games and was averaging 1.1 points and 0.7 rebounds in 3.0 minutes per game.

“I give credit [to] the D-League for that. Also, my teammates,” Birch said of his improved play. “I’m definitely a better player from September to now. You know, just the experience… Yesterday was just one game. You know, I’m still on the learning curve, still a rookie.”

Cavs a threat

After their first win in eight games, the Magic will travel for a Thursday-night game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. For Orlando, the Cavs present some challenges.

Orlando earned an early season 114-93 win over Cleveland and won eight of their first 12 games. But Vogel now sees this team as very different from the one at the beginning of the season.

“We had Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross and [Nikola Vucevic] out there for big minutes. No Elfrid. Just a completely different team right now,” Vogel said.

Despite losing on Jan. 6, the Magic played well against the Cavs, narrowly losing 131-127 at Amway Center.

Vogel sees the Cavs’ recent problems — losing nine of their last 12 games — as potentially unfavorable for his Magic. Those woes include 14-point losses to Sacramento and Boston, a 28-point loss to the T-Wolves and a 34-point loss to Toronto

“Cleveland’s obviously struggled a little bit of late. You know, I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing for us,” Vogel said. “They’re gonna be working extremely hard to get things right. … So we gotta expect to beat them at their best.”

Staff writer Josh Robbins contributed to this report.

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In this postgame video, Mario Hezonja discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In this postgame video, Mario Hezonja discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

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In this postgame video, Mario Hezonja discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In this postgame video, Mario Hezonja discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

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In this postgame video, Evan Fournier discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In this postgame video, Evan Fournier discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

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In this postgame video, Shelvin Mack discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

In this postgame video, Shelvin Mack discusses the Orlando Magic's 105-101 loss to the Chicago Bulls.

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The Magic sent point guard Elfrid Payton to the Suns for a second-round pick as the NBA trading deadline neared on Thursday.

The Magic sent point guard Elfrid Payton to the Suns for a second-round pick as the NBA trading deadline neared on Thursday.